OK someone explain the travel rules to me

[MrsNeilGaiman]

Pretty please.

If I am a dual national, living in a green country, travelling to the UK, I need:

A PCR test to get on the plane
A PCR test on day 2 in the UK
A PCR test to get back on the plane to the green country

Is that right?

I am sooooooooo confused.

Haze you been vaccinated?

Are you double vaccinated? And when are you travelling?

A PCR test to get on the plane

We only needed lateral flow tests at the end of July.

When are you travelling and are you 14 days post double vaccinatoon?

You always need a test to return whether vaccinated or not but it doesn't need to be a PCR test (although that is accepted).

See here:

www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-testing-for-people-travelling-to-england#type-of-test

The test must meet performance standards of ≥97% specificity, ≥80% sensitivity at viral loads above 100,000 copies/ml.

This could include tests such as:

a PCR test
a LAMP test
an antigen test, such as an LFD (lateral flow device) test

You must check with your test provider that the test meets the standards. You may not be able to travel if it does not.

The rest of it depends on

1. what country you are returning from.
2. which part of the UK you are flying into - Scot/Eng etc have different rules
3. whether you are vaccinated.

This is a good link to start from but a lot of the info you need is buried 3 or 4 links deep in.

www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-to-england-from-another-country-during-coronavirus-covid-19#book-any-covid-19-tests-or-quarantine-hotel-packages-you-need-for-your-arrival

The rules for what you need to travel back to the green country are set by that country, not the UK

Yes double vaccinated, Pfizer if it matters!

Sorry. England and Canada.

To get on the plane you don’t need a PCR - it can be an antigen test.

Day 2 PCR only if double vaccinated.

To get back to your green country you don’t necessarily need a test - unless the country itself requires it. I travel to and from Germany which is on the green list and don’t need a test, only my vaccine passport. Even when it was amber, the rules to go back are set by the country you’re travelling to, not the UK.

How does it work with kids travelling? They aren’t entitled to be vaccinated so do they have to self isolate for 10 days when they return?

You will not get a reliable answer without providing full information. You haven't said if your flights are direct (indirect and you may need to do further tests) and when you will he travelling. Rules are due to change in England next month but it was only announced a few hours ago so gov.uk has only just been updated.

Direct flights, all adults and yes, England and Canada.

When?

2nd October

It doesn't matter what your nationality is, it matters where you're resident.

If you're vaccinated you may not need a test to get on the resturn flight - that depends on the rules of the country you're flying to.

The day 2 test is nothing to do with the return flight - its purely a money spinner / back hander. I flew to the UK from the green country I live in recently for a 3 day visit - I'm fully vaccinated. My day two test result email arrived a full week after I left the UK again. You post the test instead of just getting it done in a walk in test center and getting the result 15 minutes later like in most EU countries, so if day 2 falls on a Sunday you're stuffed if you actually need the result to fly on the Monday.

It doesn't matter what your nationality is, it matters where you're resident.

And not even that, it matters where you’ve spent the last 10/14 days, and where you’re flying from.

Assuming you havent been in.any other country in the fortnight before you travel you need:

Negative PCR, LAMP or antigen taken in the 3 days before travel

You need to complete a passenger locator form within 48 hours of arrival on gov.uk

You need to book a day 2 test. This can be taken between the day or arrival and day 2. You need the reference number to put on your PLF.

This is all for entry into England. I don't l know much about entry to Canada so I won't advise on that. Bare in mind rules can change at short notice so keep checking government websites.

@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme

It doesn't matter what your nationality is, it matters where you're resident.

If you're vaccinated you may not need a test to get on the resturn flight - that depends on the rules of the country you're flying to.

The day 2 test is nothing to do with the return flight - its purely a money spinner / back hander. I flew to the UK from the green country I live in recently for a 3 day visit - I'm fully vaccinated. My day two test result email arrived a full week after I left the UK again. You post the test instead of just getting it done in a walk in test center and getting the result 15 minutes later like in most EU countries, so if day 2 falls on a Sunday you're stuffed if you actually need the result to fly on the Monday.

Day two tests can be taken between the day of arrival and day 2. There are walk in places but you need to book and have a reference for the PLF. Some airport arrivals even haven them so you can be swabbed after getting off the plane. They have nothing to do with flying back, Sunday or otherwise, their intention is to stop the spread of covid in England.

their intention is to stop the spread of covid in England

Their intention is to make money. If their intention was to stop the spread of Covid they

• would release results within 24/48 hours
• wouldn’t cost what they cost

I know plenty of people whose results didn’t arrive until 2/3 weeks after they posted them. If they’d been positive they would’ve been spreading it without knowing.

Not everyone has a walk in testing centre nearby, a car, or a spare £100 to spend on an airport test.

CeeceeBloomingdale its obviously completely redundant to stop the spread in England given that the default is a test that's posted off and the results take forever. By the time the results arrive the contagious period would be over. The tests cost over £60 per person and are very clearly just a government sanctioned scam which achieves nothing useful.

Regardless of your opinions about how effective the day 2 test is at stopping the spread (and I agree it's not very effective if people don't need to isolate when waiting for results), I was trying to illustrate it is nothing to do with Sunday travel or returning to PPs home country as that was clearly misinformation.

CeeceeBloomingdale yes you're certainly right there, good point.

In all honesty arriving fully vaccinated from a country with far less covid and vastly fewer cases of the Delta varient than the UK, the day 2 test requirements made me very cross given the price and the fact that the results took such a ridiculous length of time! Just such a blatant money making scam! In the EU countries neighboring mine and the country I live in there are free walk in test centers absolutely everywhere - results in 15 minutes every time.

I recently did the trip between Germany and the UK.

Before flight: PCR (lat flow accepted if it meets requirements, I just played it safe by getting PCR)
Day 2: PCR, got results day after posting by text message
On return: no test needed to return to Germany as double vaxxed

Was all easier than I expected, but the day 2 PCR was daylight robbery, in Scotland you only have one provider.

The tests to get on the we plane to leave your country and the rest to be allowed in back / day 2 what ever are surely the jurisdiction if the home country. You need to check those